Editorial Project Management
Managing editorial projects brings risks and challenges but also rewards – whether you work in-house or freelance. This course will give you the confidence to navigate your way successfully through each stage of your project.
Clear explanations of best practice theory and terminology, combined with hands-on practical experience, will give you the tools to effectively manage both print and digital editorial projects.
The course promotes active learning, using a blended approach of self-study, interactive activities, group work and an in-depth editorial case study to guide you through the practical tasks required for the job.
You will learn how to set up a project, handle issues and changes, manage resources and prioritise effectively.
At the end of the course, you will have gained skills and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. Plus, you will have access to a suite of templates and documentation to help keep your editorial projects running smoothly and successfully from start to finish.
Please note that this course focuses exclusively on editorial projects. If you have a non-editorial role and want to gain an understanding of general, non-editorial projects, we recommend Introduction to Project Management.
Who is it for?
- Editorial Project Managers
- Editors
- Desk Editors
- Freelance Editors
- Project Editors
- Production Editors
- Managing Editors who are responsible for the management of complete editorial projects
What will you achieve?
On completing this course you will be able to:
- assess the scope, needs and risks of an editorial project
- set up robust processes to maintain and document progress and issues
- accurately estimate timings to produce a detailed and reliable schedule
- create and maintain the project budget to ensure profitability
- effectively manage and communicate with your team and other stakeholders, wherever they are
Programme
Before the first session, you will be sent details of the editorial case study that forms the central example for the course. Completing the tasks will take 30 minutes and is required before attending on Day 1. There will also be homework tasks set between the three days, each requiring around 30 minutes' study time.Day 1
- Leading a project – skills, accountability and responsibility
- Understanding goals and objectives
- Determining workflow and dependencies
- Assessing and mitigating risk
Managing content and processes
- Documenting progress, content and issues
- Managing complex, multi-part projects
- Working for continual improvement
Day 2
Managing your time and tasks
- Techniques to keep on track
- Defining and prioritising tasks
Scheduling
- Estimating and allocating time
- Mitigating delay and why
- Scheduling tools and tips
- Linking dependencies
Day 3
Budgeting
- Estimating costs
- Understanding profitability
- Using contingency
- Keeping to budget
Working with suppliers
- Negotiating fees
- Briefing suppliers – local and offshore
- When things don’t go to plan
Talking teams
- Roles and communication
- Leading virtual/hybrid teams
About the tutor(s)
Since 1999, Sarah Sodhi has proofed, tagged, bound, corrected, edited, managed, commissioned, subbed, scheduled, estimated and produced a great deal of content – from interactive, multi-media resources to marketing leaflets, from monthly magazines to 900-page medical tomes.
Starting her career at a small medical publisher in Oxford, Sarah produced medical textbooks, journals and a bi-monthly magazine. She then moved into the public sector to work for an adult education charity, introducing formal scheduling procedures, progress-chasing systems and detailed budgets. After this, she immersed herself in the education sector, editing and managing digital and print resources for primary, secondary and adult education publishers.
Sarah has been involved in the following projects:
- Oxford International Computing for Primary and Lower Secondary – Publishing a 12-book computing textbook series to coincide with the launch of a brand-new curriculum. Coordinating a multi-author team, a large freelance editorial team and design professionals, both in-house and off-shore.
- Scholastic's Disgusting Poems Anthology – Relaunching a successful 10-book poetry series, involving a redesign, commissioning more than 800 new artworks and clearance of 800 copyright licences.
- Twenty First Century GCSE Science – Coordinating the authoring, editing and development of over 2000 online interactive resources to support the suite of print and digital blended learning materials.
For more information about any of these courses, please email or sign up to receive our newsletter for updates on these and our other offerings.
Dates
Monday, 20 October 2025
Date information for future sessions
October 2025
- Dates: 20, 22 & 24 October 2025
- Times: Each session will run from 9.00am to 12.30pm
Course format
- Virtual classroom
- 9.00am to 12.30pm
- Three x 3.5 hour sessions including breaks, comprising three half-day sessions on three days
A number of discounts are available
What you will need
To join the course, you will need access to a computer or laptop with a camera and microphone. You will need to activate a free Zoom account to join the course. This takes two minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.